Saturday, May 14, 2011

Gardening update

This morning, as every day, I spent some time watering my plants and looking at them. The boys like doing the watering for me, but I try to do at least one of the two times daily myself just so I can keep tabs on how everything is doing. Today, I enriched some of the beds with more compost, and sprinkled a natural fertilizer around all plants.

 Bell peppers


cherry tomatoes

tomatoes


 banana peppers 


all the peppers and tomatoes


 Remember I tried growing three kinds of corn? 



Well, for some reason, only four stalks came up. I read that melons make good companion plants for corn, so I put one watermelon and one cantelope in the spots where the corn should have been. There is tons of room for them to spread into in front of the planter.

 


I had also put out four different kinds of bush beans:


Becky plucked a few of the seedlings, but mostly, they are all thriving and going into bloom now. I have NEVER before gotten to the flowering stage with my beans, so this is success for me! 




I had started some zucchini, melons, and cucumbers indoors:


 After a couple of weeks, they were ready to go outside, where they have been thriving ever since. To accommodate them, I built two of these 4x4 ft planters which I hope will be large enough as these plants spread like crazy. There is lots of growing room all around the planters, so hopefully this will work out.


 



In the planter right in front of the house, we put out some flower seeds that are not in bloom yet. We also bought some flowers to put in the window planters on the playhouse:


In the fall, I am hoping to put a little picket fence around the front yard, and remove all grass (really, it's all crab grass and weeds we have left). Instead of the "lawn" (haha....), I would like to put in more planters, but this time make them recessed into the ground, and also recess the ones I have already built. Basically, the only thing I want to have left in the front yard is just planters in various shapes and sizes by using edging, wood planks, pavers, etc. around our trees and other plants, and cover the walkways in between them with mulch. I so badly want to be successful at gardening, but my skills, time, and finances are limited. One can dream, right?

Anyway, just wanted to share how things are growing so far.

9 comments:

  1. wow I love the garden beds...I need to make at least one small one:) Got seeds to start now at least. did you make the beds yourself or did your husband make it. If you made it was it hard?

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  2. Your garden looks fantastic! It is so satisfying to watch home grown produce thrive, isn't it?

    Thank you for sharing your photographs! Happy gardening!

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  3. Do you know what is helping my plants flower? I am spraying them with kelp. I got it at the nursery after I went to an organic seminar, and you put a pinch in water in a spray bottle and it fertilizes through the leaves. You spray at dawn or dusk. Instant nitrogen. Your plants look great. Mine are somewhat anemic looking this year. We've just had way too much wind and way cooler temps than normal. We should already have salsa. Ugh.

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  4. So thrilled for you! Everything looks terrific. I love the planters on the house.

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  5. Corn has to be planted in blocks of at least 4 rows for pollination.

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  6. Try getting seeds from the Native Seed Exchange in Tucson. They have seeds that come from stock that has been grown successfully in this area, and none of them are hybrids, so you can save seed from year to year.

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  7. Congratulations on how everything is growing, Zsuzsanna, including the children! The garden will taste delicious when it's time to harvest and it's such an excellent, thoughtful lesson for the little ones!
    And may I say that the petunias in the window boxes of the playhouse are adorable!
    My little nephew was dedicated to the Lord this weekend, and us to raising him and helping him grow towards God. It was a lovely thing to see our nephew and how many were there to support his parents and him. Does your husband do dedications of babies? (Not to be confused with baptisms.)
    May the Lord be with you and your Family,

    Mindy

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  8. Your garden is lovely. Here in the north, we haven't even been able to plant the garden yet. It looks like you'll be enjoying the fresh veggies very soon!

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  9. congrats on the growing. I have tried to do some flowers and plants this last year. It really is a thrill!!! Though, it is a lot of hard work!! I helped my parents growing up, and it was not always a lot of fun sweating in the August sun, but I have so many good, nostalgic memories of our family garden, and of my Dad working in it--my mom, too, but for some reason it brings back good memories and sweetness of my Dad. :) I just wish it wasn't all such hard work!! :) I often dream/wonder about what the Garden of Eden was like!! :) I also guess the work gets a little easier once the "learning curve" is achieved!! Anyway, congrats, and I enjoyed the cookie recipe, too. I had it years ago, and thought it was neat, but tried it again after seeing yours. Anyway, nice to see your pictures.

    --another anonymous, with a nice comment, at least. :)

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